HM Coroners are independent judicial office holders appointed by the Crown and funded by their local authorities.
HM Coroner must investigate someone’s death if;
• The cause of death is unknown
• The death was violent or unnatural
• The person died in state detention e.g. Police; prison; whilst under s.2/3 Mental Health Act
Deaths are referred to Coroner via the hospital, police and GP’s.
A registrar will refer a death to HM Coroner if the Registrar believes a medical certificate of death provided by a doctor is defective or may need looking into.
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Coroners